Here’s everything you need up front: your Google Business Profile is free, takes an afternoon to set up properly, and matters more for local leads than almost anything else you can do online. It feeds the three-slot map pack that dominates “contractor near me” searches. This is the complete setup walkthrough for trades companies — claiming, verification, categories, service areas, photos, and the review system — written so you can do it yourself.
When a homeowner searches “deck builder near me” or “framing contractor St. Cloud”, the first organic thing they see is the map pack: three businesses with star ratings, photos, and a call button. Those three profiles absorb a huge share of the calls for every local trade search — before anyone scrolls to the regular results. Your Google Business Profile (GBP, formerly Google My Business) is your entry ticket to that box. No profile, no map pack, no matter how good your website is.
And to be clear about the economics: the profile costs nothing. Companies cold-calling contractors to charge hundreds for “Google registration” are selling you a free form. Where the profile fits in the bigger local-search picture — alongside your website, reviews, and citations — is covered in why your construction company needs local SEO. This article is the hands-on piece.
Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google account the business controls — not a personal Gmail belonging to whoever’s nephew set up the Facebook page. Search for your company name first: Google often auto-generates listings from public data, and claiming an existing one preserves any reviews already attached to it.
Most contractors work at customer locations and don’t take walk-ins at the shop. In that case, choose the service-area option and hide your street address — Google’s guidelines direct service businesses to do exactly this, and it keeps your home address off the public map if you run the company from the house. Then list the towns you actually serve. Be honest with the radius: listing the whole state dilutes relevance; listing your true 30–45 minute working area strengthens it.
Your primary category is the strongest single signal on the profile. Pick the most specific one that matches the work that makes you the most money: “Framing contractor”, “Remodeler”, “Roofing contractor”, “Concrete contractor” — not the generic “Construction company” unless you truly are a general operation. Then add secondary categories for every other trade you legitimately offer. A framing company that also pours flatwork should carry both.
Google has to confirm you’re real. Depending on the business, that’s a video walkthrough (increasingly the default for service-area businesses — expect to show equipment, vehicles, or licensing), a phone code, or a postcard. Don’t stall here: an unverified profile is invisible. If video verification asks for evidence, branded vehicles, tools, and a contractor license number all work.
Stock photos are worse than no photos; homeowners can smell them. Upload your logo, your crew, your trucks, and above all finished work — wide shots of completed framing packages, kitchens, roofs, decks. Then make it a habit: a few new project photos every month signals an active business to both Google and the customer comparing three profiles at their kitchen table.
Reviews are the heaviest lever on the profile — for rankings and for the human deciding whom to call. The system that works for trades companies:
GBP lets you publish short posts — project spotlights, seasonal offers, service announcements. A post or two a month keeps the profile visibly alive. Watch the Questions & Answers section too: anyone can answer questions about your business, so it should be you doing it.
The 80/20: specific primary category, honest service areas, real photos monthly, and reviews asked for at every closeout. A contractor who does just those four things consistently will out-rank most of their county within a year.
A common contractor question: “If the profile is free and powerful, do I even need a website?” Honest answer: the profile gets you found; the website gets you chosen. The map pack click lands somewhere — and a fast site with real project galleries and an estimate form converts that click, while a Facebook page or a dead link loses it. The website also gives Google the per-trade and per-town pages that support the profile’s rankings. They compound each other.
Where we fit, with numbers straight from our pricing page: every website we build ships with the on-page local SEO foundation included — $497 Starter, $997 Professional, $1,997 Enterprise, one-time. For contractors who want the whole system run for them — profile optimization, content, monitoring, rankings work — our SEO Package is $199/mo, and it’s optional, not a contract trap.
More hands-on marketing guides for trades companies.
We’ll audit your profile free and tell you exactly what’s missing — then fix it, or hand you the checklist to fix it yourself. Straight answers either way. Call or text (320) 360-8285.